Juror fined, found in criminal contempt after causing mistrial

CAMDEN - A juror's misconduct caused a mistrial in federal court here and led a federal judge to fine the man more than $11,000, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for New Jersey.

The juror, identified in court records as Stephen Meile, improperly conducted his own online research during a recess in a criminal trial, the federal prosecutor's office said.

He then shared his findings with other jurors during deliberations on June 15, it said in a statement.

U.S. District Judge Robert Kugler declared a mistrial after learning of Meile's research from another juror, a court record says.

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Meile confirmed under oath "that he had, in fact, performed outside research on matters related to the case," Kugler wrote in ordering the juror to show why he should not be found in criminal contempt.

The order noted Kugler had repeatedly directed the jurors not to conduct any research before and after he swore them in on June 11.

That ban included visits to the alleged crime scene, the use of reference books or dictionaries, and online searches, Kugler's order noted in part.

The judge on Tuesday held Meile in criminal contempt and imposed an $11,227 fine on the Burlington County man.

That sum represented the court's costs for empaneling the jury, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

An attorney for Meile could not be reached for comment.

The jury had been seated for the trial of Kevin Ruiz-Quezada, who is accused of assaulting an Immigration and Customs Enforcement Officer during a December 2017 incident at his Pennsauken home.

A criminal complaint says four ICE officers went to the home with an administrative arrest warrant for Ruiz-Quezada, a native of Nicaragua.

Ruiz-Quezada, although a lawful permanent resident, had become eligible for deportation due to two convictions in 2002 and 2005 for crimes "involving moral turpitude," the complaint says.

It alleges the ICE officers became involved in a tug-of-war as they tried to take a struggling Ruiz-Quezada into custody and the suspect's mother sought to pull him into their home.

The officers were pulled into the house by Ruiz-Quezada and crashed through a living room table before taking the man into custody, the complaint claims. It says one officer required surgery for a finger injury.

Also: Mistrial in assault case against Camden policeman for excessive use of force

Jim Walsh covers public safety, economic development and other beats for the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal.

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